Maureen Brady

World Environment Day was first held in 1972 by the United Nations General Assembly to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. On the same day, the General Assembly adopted a resolution to create a global environmental programme.

"Before the start of the summer rainy season, the Klaserie river is more a lush reed bed than a body of moving water, although it retains a number of permanent pools. Early one overcast morning, I had the privilege of being the sole companion of wilderness guide Alan McSmith on a long, meandering walk through the dry Klaserie bush", writes Maureen Brady.

Some places in the world make one wish, if there’s a heaven, it could be like this. <i>Earthyear</i> samples the delights of Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve and Retreat in the Cederberg. The whole of the Cederberg has been declared a world heritage site, not only because of its wealth of flora and fauna but also for the thousands of rock art sites created by long-extinct Bushman artists.

A recurring refrain in discourses about the state of South African education is that the school system is not producing enough matriculants with adequate skills in mathematics and science, especially in the higher grade. Another is that too few young people are choosing careers in science and technology. Can an ancient fish make education sexy? Maureen Brady finds out.

Just what is it that makes this place so special? Once upon a time, long, long ago, a golden age flourished in Southern Africa. <i>Earthyear</i> explores the magic and mystery of Mapungubwe.

"Our main aim is to increase the tourism economy of Johannesburg. We’re starting off a strong base — six million tourists come into the city per annum. The total value of this to the economy is valued at R7-billion. The question is: how do we get more tourists?" Deon Viljoen, CEO of Johannesburg Tourism Company, speaks to <i>Earthyear</i> about his role in putting Johannesburg on the world map.

"I heard a solitary lion roar close by in the early hours of my first night (which had left spoor through the camp just the night before), a hyena laughing the following morning, fish eagles while I was enjoying my very first cup of morning coffee next to the campfire…". A few days at Sebe-Sebe’s bush camp restores an <i>Earthyear</i> journalist’s soul.

Water is essential to life on this planet. The human body can survive a mere three days without water. Besides needing water to stay alive, human societies need water for many activities, from simple household uses for cooking or washing to the electricity that powers the computer this article is being written on. And South Africa has already lost about half of its wetlands. Can we afford to lose any more?

Looking for a job in nature was the last thing Leandra Brandt (22) thought of. Now her future looks a lot rosier with serious prospects of employment since she has joined a nature conservation youth service programme in the Vrolijkheid Nature Reserve in the Western Cape in February this year.

American conservationist Mike Fay is a man on a mission: to save Africa’s remaining wild places from further human depredation. To do this, he and co-pilot Peter Ragg will criss-cross the African continent to measure how heavily the human “footprint” has been imprinted in 93 major eco-regions. Maureen Brady meets these human eagles on World Environment Day.

The next time you wake up to find fresh molehills dotted around your garden, you’ll probably see red, but think twice before you scream blue murder. That pesky mole may well be one of several endemic South African species, now critically endangered. But the Red Data Project seeks to change all that.

The school choir, neatly dressed in pale blue uniforms, is lined up just inside the school’s gates when we arrive at Kgaugelo Middle School in GaRankuwa. Learners mingle with guests, quietly abuzz with anticipation. A banner faces the gate, welcoming “Byron from the De Wildt Cheetah & Wildlife Trust”. Byron, in all his spotted glory, is a wildlife ambassador.

Ever since the publication of the second <i>King Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa (King II)</i> in 2002, South African corporates have sharpened their focus on their commitment to the "triple bottom line", an expanded baseline for measuring a company’s performance which includes an accounting of the impact of their activities on society and the environment.